1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packaging allowing three components of a product, for example liquids, to be stored separately from each other, and allowing them to be mixed at the time of their use. This packaging can be used, for example, for the storage of a hair dye or of a hair-perming product, these products usually consisting of several components.
2. Description of the Related Art
Two-part packaging allowing two components to be stored and extemporaneously mixed just before the use of the mixture is described in EP-A-0,298,357. This packaging comprises a first bottle intended to contain a first component, this bottle being open at its base and fitted at its top with a dispensing nozzle; connecting part fixed to the base of the first bottle and comprising a central hollow shaft capable of receiving, at the top, a removable stopper allowing the first bottle to be closed; a second bottle intended to contain a second product, provided with a neck which can be engaged in the central hollow shaft, this neck being equipped with a closure plug for storage, connecting part, in particular of the screwing type, provided between the neck and the plug, the assembly being such that when the plug is removed from the second bottle, the neck of the second bottle can expel the stopper to allow the components to be mixed.
Moreover, DE GM 8700341 describes packaging for the separate storage of three components to be mixed at the time of use. This packaging comprises a cylindrical upper first container fitted with a dispensing nozzle and containing a first component; a cylindrical lower body provided with a bottom to which two concentric cylinders of the same height are connected, the lower cylinder constituting a second container which contains a second component, and a third container bounded by the volume defined between the two cylinders and the bottom, and containing a third component. A plug having two annular skirts is provided for simultaneously closing off the second and third compartments. The plug includes a plurality of radial fins intended to catch on an internal rim of the first container when the first container undergoes a relative translational movement with respect to the second container, for the purpose of disconnecting the plug from the second and the third containers and thus of mixing the three components.
It has been found that the plug frequently remains caught on the second and third containers and that the mixing of the three components could therefore not be carried out. Moreover, certain multi-component formulations such as those intended for use with the present invention require the mixing of the various components to be carried out according to a sequence of precise steps. This is because, for example, in the case of certain recently developed formulations, it is absolutely essential to proceed via a premixing of two or more base compositions before another active component is added.